Illegal immigrant students' act on way to Senate

Sept. 15, 2010

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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Sally Kim, 19, right, of Los Angeles, joins her fellow DREAM graduates as they wait for the DREAM graduation ceremony to begin. The Orange County Dream Act Coalition sponsored a dream graduation at the teamsters hall local 952 in Orange in June 2009. The event was held to bring attention to and support of the DREAM Act or Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Sally Kim, 19, right, of Los Angeles, joins her fellow DREAM graduates as they wait for the DREAM graduation ceremony to begin. The Orange County Dream Act Coalition sponsored a dream graduation at the teamsters hall local 952 in Orange in June 2009. The event was held to bring attention to and support of the DREAM Act or Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Activists on both sides of the immigration debate in Orange County are abuzz, planning their next move after learning that a slice of immigration reform is expected to get a Senate vote next week.

In a last-ditch effort to pass some sort of immigration overhaul before the November elections, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced he would introduce a proposal to grant students who are in the country illegally a pathway to residency. The DREAM Act – for Development, Relief and Education for Minor Aliens – will be included as an amendment to the Defense Authorization bill.

Anti-illegal immigration activists are attacking Reid's move, blasting e-mails to members with a call to action.

"All patriots must call and urge senators to oppose the DREAM (nightmare) act. Concentrate on the senators below," states an e-mail forwarded to members of Huntington Beach-based California Coalition for Immigration Reform.

Critics of the act said it sends the wrong message, rewarding illegal behavior and would encourage more people to come to the country illegally or overstay their visas.

This comes after a dynamic year of ups and downs for the movement, with supporters staging sit-ins in Washington, D.C., garnering high-profile politicians to join their cause and mourning the deaths of two longtime activists.

The proposed federal legislation -- introduced by Senators Richard Durbin of Illinois and Richard Lugar of Indiana and Reps. Howard Berman of California and Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida -- has been around since 2000 but has faced opposition and defeat in the past.

The bill would allow students who are in the country illegally and who have finished at least two years of college or military service to apply for legal status. The bill would also allow those students to apply for legal permanent resident status, protect them from deportation and make them eligible for student loans and federal work study programs.

Students would need to have lived here at least five years and have arrived before they were 16.

Supporters of the bill say it would give students a chance to give back to America by allowing them to use their ability and education to become productive members of society.

Critics say it would take already-scarce higher educational resources away from American students and give it to those who are in the country illegally.

While many in the immigrant rights movement had hoped for a comprehensive immigration reform bill, some are acknowledging that it's a long shot and are willing to now push for the DREAM Act.

Click here to read about a mock graduation that details the limitations of students who are in the country illegally.

Longtime DREAM activists have been more vocal in recent months than ever, staging protests in front of Senators' offices and practicing civil disobedience in Washington, D.C. and other places throughout the nation.

Officials detained a group of DREAM Act activists who staged a sit-in at the Arizona offices of U.S. Sen. John McCain, lobbying for support of the bill.

In Los Angeles, police arrested another group of DREAM Act demonstrators who blocked traffic.

The movement has escalated to the point that its student activists who are in the country illegally have put themselves at risk for deportation

Click here to read about Antonia Rivera, a UC Irvine graduate who was arrested and later released and not deported despite her legal status.

"Hopefully 2010 is the year. Everyone is excited for the possibility that this might happen," said Yenni Diaz, a community liaison for the Orange County Dream Team.

Diaz became part of the movement to support students who have lived here most of their lives and have gone on to higher education but are limited because of their legal status.

Click here to read about students who rallied in support of their peers who are in the country illegally.

She called the DREAM Act a stepping stone to comprehensive immigration reform.

"If the DREAM Act were to pass, the same students in the community would continue to do work in order to achieve immigration reform... for their parents, for their uncles and cousins," Diaz said. "This is the first step toward immigration reform. We still need to do that."

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